Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Face-to-face with an original tweeder

While wandering through Calvary Cemetery recently, I came upon a curious monument whose sculptural elements included a life sized portrait, and whose dedication was meant to honor a man named Florence Scannell. The stone additionally bore a curious screed- “The Abbot”. “Dedicated to the memory of Florence Scannell by his brother John J.” is displayed prominently on its face. This stirred a sleeping memory, and I tried to remember why the name Scanell is so important. I said it out loud- John J. Scannell?

Wait a minute… John J. Scannell was the first chief of the NYFD, grand sachem of Tammany Hall, and a notorious turn of the century raconteur who became “king of the hill” in the often violent political world of 19th century New York City politics.

Enter the words Boss Tweed, Tammany Hall and machine politics into Google and you might get an idea what QueensCrapper defines a Tweeder. Someone may be able to give you a condensed version but it is too early to think clearly.

(from William Magear Tweed, political leader in New York City 1823-1878) over-development, unnecessary development, or development out of character with the neighborhood, facilitated by corrupt zoning changes, tax abatements, or incentives by politicians to benefit politically connected developers. In short: private gain at public expense.

Boss Tweed: That's the building of our country right there, Mr. Cutting. Americans aborning. Bill the Butcher: I don't see no Americans. I see trespassers, Irish harps. Do a job for a nickel what a nigger does for a dime and a white man used to get a quarter for. What have they done? Name one thing they've contributed. Boss Tweed: Votes.

Boss Tweed: The appearance of law must be upheld, especially when it's being broken.

Boss Tweed: We're burying a lot of votes tonight.

Boss Tweed: Remember the first rule of politics. The ballots don't make the results, the counters make the results. The counters. Keep counting

Boss Tweed: You may or may not know, Bill, that everyday I go down to the waterfront with hot soup for the Irish as they come ashore. Its part of building a political base.

Killoran: Monk's already won by three thousand more votes than there are voters. Boss Tweed: Only three? Make it twenty, thirty. We don't nee a victory. We need a Roman triumph.

[as Monk McGinn runs for Sheriff] Boss Tweed: That man was right born for this. Amsterdam Vallon: He's killed 44 men, and laid low a couple hundred more. Boss Tweed: Is that right? We should have run him for mayor.

Boss Tweed: Bill, I can't get a days work done for all the good citizens coming in here to harass me about crime in the Points. Some even go so far as to accuse Tammany of connivance in this so-called rampant criminality. What am I to do? I can't have this. Something has to be done. Bill: What do you have in mind? Boss Tweed: I don't know. I think maybe we should hang someone.

Boss Tweed: You're a good one for the fighting, Bill. But you can't fight forever. Bill: I can go down doing it. Boss Tweed: And you will! Bill: What did you say? Boss Tweed: I said, you're turning your back on the future.Bill: Its not our future.

On second thought I don't think anyone can you give an easy explanation. If you read enough about Boss tweed and our political history , you can recognize what is tweeding. Someone can even include the relationship between special interest groups (unions, acorn, christian fundamentalists, etc) and political parties as a form of tweeding. Instead of promoting a working government, political parties would rather pander to these groups so they can stay in power.

Wow Sweeney relax, I simply told anonymous to do some reading because Tweeding is not so simple as a wiki type definition. Tammany Hall politics isn't just about immigrants or urban development. Even the Romans practiced political pandering. In fact both major political parties are guilty of catering to whatever interest group or "cause of the day" will get them elected. How is it good for the country when they have to payback the support with bad legislation instead of good government.

Too bad the press has abandoned it's role in protecting us from bad government. You did come up something but I'll edit it a bit.

On the one hand, Tammany Hall and the tweeders BUILT this city... bridges, buildings- all of "heroic modern new york". On the other hand, power and money becomes concentrated in the hands of a few and if you're the wrong color or speak with the wrong accent- you're out in the cold. Think croneyism. Think about Cheney giving government contracts to his former colleagues or Giuliani and his pal Bernie Kerik.

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Italicized passages and many of the photos come from other websites. The links to these websites are provided within the posts.

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"The difference between dishonest and honest graft: for dishonest graft one worked solely for one's own interests, while for honest graft one pursued the interests of one's party, one's state, and one's personal interests all together." - George Washington Plunkitt

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